Ashcroft Bridge

Ashcroft, B.C.

 

This five span bridge at Ashcroft replaces a sixty year old truss structure. The installation of the new 783 foot (233 metre) long bridge posed an erection problem as the Thompson River becomes a torrent during run off. We chose to launch the steel trapezoidal bathtub girders from both sides, closing in the middle. The bridge was launched over a roller system that we designed to minimize the critical web buckling stresses. The rollers were mounted on rocker beams which also simplified passage of plate thickness changes. Somerset designed a falsework bent, an expandable spreader bar lifting system and a launching nose. An innovative hydraulic push-grip mechanism was conceived to replace the pulling hoist and reeving operation which is conventionally used. Later, a scheme to dismantle the old bridge was engineered and the truss was removed from the centre back, piece by piece.

 


   

 

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